Authorities in Greece have disrupted an attempt to kill Russian national Alexander Vinnik by poisoning. Vinnik was arrested and detained in Greece earlier this year after being suspected of funneling $4 billion worth of bitcoin through BTC-e exchange.

According to ArsTechnica, news of the plot to murder Vinnik was shared with Greek authorities earlier in the year and police chose to keep mum about the plan in order to allow investigators to discreetly pursue the those involved with the plot. According to earlier reporting by Sputnik:

“There are people who are extremely interested in him not coming to Russia. It all began after Vinnik’s extradition to the United States was blocked.”

Vinnik’s arrest in Greece came at the request of the US government during the time he was assumed to be BTC-e’s CEO but the exchange claimed he was never on their payroll and Vinnik proclaimed his innocence. There was some confusion surrounding his arrest and trial as his lawyers argued he should be tried in Russia while the Greek court gave credence to the United States request for extradition. Recently, Vinnik is reported to have written a confession letter in Russia and was scheduled to testify in order to further assist investigators but for the time being his future will be decided by the Greek Minister of Justice, Nikos Paraskevopoulos.